Floating in the endless void of space, a massive ring sat against a backdrop of mixed hues of warm color. Warm reds mixed with deep oranges as violent storms clashed in the atmosphere of the gas giant. For all its power and majesty, Behemoth held not even a candle to the moon-sized object in its orbit. For while Behemoth would swallow and crush anything that strayed into its path, the object before it would reach out its tendrils to annihilate all life within its reach. However, like the monster behind it; the ring did not look much like a weapon of war. Elegant designs carved into the metal making the exterior of the ring seemed to make an outline of some ancient language. The perfection of the circle that made the ring, smoothness of metal, and lack of marring despite millions of years in space spoke of the craftsmanship in the structure. The advancement of the beings who built it. On its interior surface, biomes and weather patterns could be seen. Making this a true world, one where a being could live.



Were one to be standing on the ring, turning their gaze to the sky; they would see fire raining down as if Gods waged war in myths of old. However, these Gods waged war not for personal gains or ideals; but for survival. One side of the conflict is the remnants of an alien coalition known as 'The Covenant'. This force, waging war against the humans they believed to be heretics to their religion. Their way of life. As these two massive forces fought tooth and nail for ownership of the ring world, they knew not that they were about to meet a new entity who would change their fates. Be it for the better or worse, neither party would know.

---

"Mr. Sulu, take us out of warp. Let's see what we've got ourselves into." Came a voice from behind the captain's chair on the pristine white bridge of the USS Enterprise. After offering a reply of acknowledgement, an asain man reached forward to grasp a handle off to his front left. Pulling the handle along a slider slowly towards him, all on board would hear a low hum as the ship decelerated from maximum Warp. As the reality around them suddenly seemed to compress to form actual shapes and recognizable shapes compared to the usual stretched blue lines of a warp bubble, the bridge crew moved forward to get a glimpse of the new galaxy. Only to be surprised as what they expected to be empty space was filled with a mass of ships. Some blocky and gunmetal gray while others seemed to be oblong and purple. Shaped vaguely like massive whales moving slowly through the void.

The fleet of the blocky-gray ships had the large letters 'UNSC' painted on the side, and numbered only into the hundreds. One could see a slew of small dots, notifying boarding craft and fighters flying in formation around larger frigates, destroyers, and battleships. Each ship roughly equivalent to the Enterprise in size. In the center of the the fleet sat the largest ship by far. Just over 5 Kilometers in length, the words 'UNSC INFINITY' could be seen clearly on the side. Near the end of the ship, just forward of the massive engines one could see large designs made in shimmering energy; similar to those on the massive Ring-world in the distance.

On the other side, the fleet of whale-shaped ships moved slowly towards their enemy. This fleet outnumbered the UNSC fleet by far. It also happened to be the closet fleet the the Enterprise. A few ships slowed to a stop in space and seemed to slowly turn towards the new presence. Whenever hailing was attempted by the Enterprise, the other ships simply responded by letting vicious arcs of burning plasma race across the distance between them. The bright lights of each plasma torpedo tore through the space before slamming into the Enterprise's shields. The shields fell sharply from the rapid impacts, holding steady at around 34%.

Immediately, another hail hit the Enterprise and was answered quickly. On screen, a man who was clearly human sprung up on screen. The man seemed no older than 35, wearing a sharp military uniform appeared on screen. Looking a little bit shocked as he scanned the bridge before him and saw mostly humans. He waited for a long few moments before speaking. "Unknown vessel, you have wandered into an active combat zone. This Captain Thomas Lasky of the UNSC Infinity. Covenant vessels have engaged and launched boarding vessels. Move towards our fleet if you wish to live, details can be discussed after we take care of the enemy." the man said simply. Seconds later multiple impacts could be heard throughout the ship as boarding vessels pierced the hull and covenant forces came out shooting. Forced with no other option, the the captain of the Enterprise agreed and began to move towards the fleet hailing them. Consequently also moving towards the ring world.

Further below, amid the screams of terrified crew members as alien forces swarmed the ship and began mowing down anything that moved. Stalking through the ship like hunters moving on their prey. Each shot of their plasma weaponry brining with it the scent of burnt flesh and death. However, amid the chaos of the attack and some of the Enterprise valiantly fighting for their ship; another hunter prowled the ship. This one brought with it the scent of gunsmoke, spent brass, and dying alien bodies. This hunter was actually three individuals, two humans in full body armor and a black helmet with reflective visors. The letters 'ODST' could be read across their chest plates as they moved through the ship alongside one other. This one towered 6' 5 and wore a solid suit of powered armor. The heavy footfalls could be heard with the same weight as the eight foot tall aliens moving through the halls.

His slit of a visor completely reflective, and the mechanical sound of the powered armor gave no indication of whether this was man or machine. Couple that with the total silence and brutal efficiency with which this hunter moved through the ship, those that met him would often mistake him for a robot.

---

Coming up on a group of elites, surrounding what seemed to be a small girl; the Spartan couldn't exactly get a good look past the group of six sangehili surrounding her. The Spartan raised an armored gauntlet. Signalling the two ODSTs alongside him to stop. Making a flurry of hand movements, the Spartan communicated his wishes to the two next to him. Moving quietly ahead, the Spartan drew his blade and activated the energy covering. Without any word or ceremony, he lunged forward and shoved the sword clean through the enemies' back. The point sticking out of the alien's chest in front of the girl. The weapon seemed to stick there for a second before all hell broke loose.

Yanking the sword straight sideways, the spartan cut the Elite's torso off. Watching it slide away and hit the floor. At the same moment, two loud gunshots echoed through the cramped hall as powerful rifles were fired. Before one could blink, two elite's heads exploded in a spray of bone and blood. Decimated by the anti-matter rifle each ODST held. The Spartan sheated his sword and pulled a simple rifle from his back. In the next second he fired the thrusters on his armor, surging forward and slamming the nearest elite into the wall. Of course, this led to a dent in the pristine wall. Immediately, the boy shoved the muzzle of the rifle between the split mandibles and pulled the trigger. Blowing it's brains out in an immediate killing blow. Within half a second later, the last two elites died from the ODSTs. Ending the encounter in a mere few seconds.

The boy turned towards the girl, staring for a few seconds before tilting his head to the side. Almost questioning why the girl had... twin tails and ears like a fox. "You hurt?" Came a blunt response from the boy, his voice deep and robotic sounding from the speaker in his helmet.

Arcadia's day had been going well. She had woken up, eaten breakfast before she trained in her room with her swords. After that, she went around the ship to each department, completing her designated work for the day. Any regular human would find all the work particularly grueling but since Arcadia recalled everything she learned almost perfectly, it was all a simple day-to-day routine. After that, she hung around on the bridge, learning the controls and she even learned a little bit of the languages from Uhura. But after that her day went downhill. How could it not when they disengaged from warp only realize they had landed smack-dab in the middle of what seemed to be an all-out war. One side started attacking them whilst the other said to join their fleet if they wanted to live. Without needing to be told from her father, Arcadia shot out of the bridge and raced down the corridor to the engines where she knew she would find Scotty shouting out orders at the top of his lungs. But before she could quite reach her destination, she was halted by a pack of aliens that came at her with...swords? Well, two could play that game. She had taken to carrying around her swords, to always be prepared and so quick as a flash she drew them and charged at the aliens. She dispatched the first quickly and dodged an attack from a second, slicing into him with one sword while the other whisked up to block an attack.

The corridor wasn't as wide as she would have liked and so soon the aliens sear number overwhelmed her. However, right when she thought she was done for, a sword point suddenly appeared through the chest of the assailant in front of her. From there she watched in a state of surprise as three freaking tall beings in armor dispatched the rest of the aliens swiftly. When asked about her condition, the first words that blurted out of her mouth was:

"Whoa, are you a robot? You are freaking tall."

She then shook her head as her ears flattened to her head and her tails waved eratically behind her. "I have time to freak out over this later. But right now my home is breaking! Again!"

With that, the girl sprinted off down the hall at an amazing speed, blasting right past another alien before it could even raise its weapon against her. She made it to the engine rooms and indeed found Scotty running all over the place, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Scotty! What's wrong?" The man glanced over, frantic look on his face.

"Everything Lass, everything." He then ran off sprouting orders. Arcadia glanced around before racing out of the room and up to the bridge. She burst through the doors. "Papa, the ships breaking again! What can I do to help?"

Not even seconds after the girl burst through the doors to the bridge, they opened once more. Through it came a small contingent of bird-like creatures. Though they mostly lacked feathers and wings, instead resembling the form of a raptor with occasional feathering. On their right forearms, the creatures bore a small metallic disk that sparked and shimmered as a shield of plasma sprung up. The small arcs of energy that raced towards the group bounced harmlessly off their shields. The attack being answered in kind as the raptors fired their own weapons. A hail of pink, needle-needle-like projectiles raced gracefully across the bridge before piercing three unfortunate crew members. None were critical wounds, but before help could arrive the pink needles exploded and sent shards through their target's body. Killing all three victims instantly. A shocked silence fell across the bridge as the creatures sprouted off words that sounded more like bird squaks than anything else. It became quite clear that they were holding the bridge hostage as their weapons trained on various personal. The creatures all made room as what seemed to be a commander of theirs entered the bridge. One of the same behemoths that had pinned Arcadia earlier, only this one bore elaborate red armor. It's headpiece seemed to be angular as opposed to the usual round headgear his species seemed to wear, the armor bulkier and more ornate. The creature himself also seemed bigger. Barking something in an odd language of grunts, growls, and other guttural sounds, the being advanced onto the ship and pointed towards the man sitting in the captain's chair. Raising his weapon as if to fire and take the man's life.

Only for the bridge doors to explode open as a familiar, heavily armored figure slammed clear through the metal. Small blue jets firing all along his armor as the raptor creatures squaked in evident panic and tried to back away. Only to be halted as massive reports could be heard, and their heads seemed to explode from evident impact. Behind the heavily armored figure, two other, normal sized, figures made their way into the bridge and made short work of the raptor creatures. The large creature that had being staring at the captain seconds ago spun on the new group. Roaring in rage as he lifted his leg faster than most could move and kicked the armored man in the chest. A loud pop followed by sparks flying from his armor gave obvious signs some kind of energy shield had failed on the man as he rocketed backwards. Once more, the jets on his armor fired as he slowed himself to a halt on the bridge. Balling his hands in evident preparation for a fight, the man would look briefly to his allies. "Johnson, cover the lift. No more surprises. Mendez, get these people out of the way. I've got Va'damm." he ordered, purposefully projecting his voice out the speakers so the crew of the enterprise could hear.

Without any form of ceremony or indication the brawl was to start, the man leaped forward in two bounds. Pistons and other machinery could be heard firing briefly as his armor compensated his mind's wishes and accelerated his arm. A vicious uppercut that moved as a blur struck towards the hostile alien, only to be deflected by an armored forearm. In their lock, the two combatants glared fiercely at each other. Black, soulless eyes filled with rage and genocide glaring at a cold visor of a ruthless killing machine. Then the lock broke, the armored man slamming a knee into the alien's groin and being rewarded with a grunt of pain from his opponent. Immediately followed by a twin punch to the being's abdomen with thunderous claps at each impact.

However, the alien was not phased by the second attack. Instead a massive red blur could be seen before the armored man's wrists were grabbed by the alien. Several blurs as the alien unleashed a fury of vicious kicks and knees to its opponent, answered by tremors in the man's body and loud grunts of pain. Jumping upwards with his powerful legs, the alien flipped over his opponent and kept a grip on his wrists. Both arms now completely behind him, the armored man felt a leg brace against his back before a thickly accented voice spoke in choppy english to him. "You. Weak. Demon. Now you shall perish with your fellow heretics. For the great journey!" the alien roared with vicious laughter as its muscles tensed.

Then the ship shook violently, throwing the occupants around as a roar louder than any had ever heard ripped through the ship. Immediately followed by the sound of space tearing and warning klaxxons blaring through the bridge. On the viewscreen, the ship seemed to stretch infinitely before snapping back together. The ring from before now much more massive and taking up the whole view screen. The battle now behind them, and a screaming sound as the upper reaches of an atmosphere tore at the ship. One thing became evident, the enterprise had suddenly warped violently towards the ring. It's power failing, the crippled ship was now stuck in the gravity well and falling rapidly towards the surface.

The being that had been holding the armored man's arms had disappeared suddenly. Leaving the two other armored men lying dead on the floor. Their armor and insides burning and split as if a sheer blade of energy had cut them open. Meanwhile the armored man stood up shakily and moved across the bridge with thunderous footsteps. Walking straight up to the captain as his visor pointed out who was in charge. All thanks to Infinity's previous contact. Reaching down and hauling the man to his feet, the Spartan looked hard at him. "Captain. Order an abandon ship now. You can't escape Halo's gravity well, and the covenant will be sending ships after us shortly, and they will treat your escaping crew, should you wait, the same way they treated my friends over there. Move it, and get the escape pods ready to go." he ordered, paying no heed to the fact that this was the captain's ship, and that he still had command here.